I honestly think they should have sent Hubbell/Donahue to Worlds but given Lynn/Logan a chance at 4CCs, although I guess the argument could be made that Hubbell/Donahue need to show themselves again in front of the international judges before Worlds.

Really liked O'Brien and Merriman, maybe they can move up due to the falls of the previous two teams.

His fall looked more like a tracking issue than anything. Altitude is not everything and I think we are all making a bit too much out of it. It's only one condition they have to deal with. For the Americans and Canadians, I think the bigger issue is that this event is always way too close to their own nationals. It's hard to peak every one to two weeks. As for H/D, they are really being asked to step up for being together such a short time. Those sort of errors are inevitable, another argument in favor of Lynn and Logan.

But a lot of athletes outside of the Canadians/Americans are mentioning it. So far, Americans have over half the medals and they have the least time from Nationals to prepare.

But a lot of athletes outside of the Canadians/Americans are mentioning it. So far, Americans have over half the medals and they have the least time from Nationals to prepare.

And that speaks to my post prior to the last one. Americans tend to train their programs with full run throughs and multiple run throughs. Charlie has severe asthma and managed to look in decent shape compared to other skaters. Mine is not as severe as his, but it does affect me when I exert myself. You don't need to train at altitude in order to prepare for altitude. Just do more intense anaerobic training before hand. When I was in college, we played two other colleges in tennis who were based in the mountains while our school was just a bit above sea level. The difference was noticeable when we played away matches at their schools, not just because of endurance, but because the thin air makes the ball fly faster and longer. So we did lots more distance running than normal sometimes with light weights, lots of jump rope for long sustained periods, and we practiced with old tennis balls that bounced lower to mimic the conditions. It's entirely possible to prepare for these conditions and to perform well in them. Of course if your country does have high altitude faciliities, it makes sense to train in them if possible. Besides, Colorado Springs has hosted major events going back to the 50s. They are not new at this.

This is the second time Mitch Islam has looked completely off balance. He was like this at Canadians a couple of weeks ago (although he didn't make as many mistakes there as he did this time). I'm wondering if something is up with his health. It looked like more than the altitude to me. It's a shame they never got the chance to do this program full out. I think it would have been really stunning.

I was impressed by the Americans, in spite of the fall. They look powerful and have a really great connection for a new team.